The NHS is seeing the first sustained fall in GP numbers in the UK for 50 years, the BBC can reveal.

An analysis by the Nuffield Trust think tank for the BBC shows the number of GPs per 100,000 people has fallen from nearly 65 in 2014 to 60 last year.

The last time numbers fell like this was in the late 1960s and it comes at a time when the population is ageing and demands on GPs are rising.

Patient groups said it was causing real difficulties in making appointments.

There have been reports of waits of up to seven weeks for a routine appointment, while those needing urgent appointments have been forced to queue outside practices in the early morning to guarantee to be seen.

The pressures on GPs are being looked at by the BBC as part of a special day of coverage, including a Panorama investigation.

Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, president of the Royal College of GPs, said: "General practice cannot be allowed to fail. It is an absolute cornerstone of the NHS."

NHS bosses maintain that steps are being taken to improve access, with more GPs being trained and extra support staff recruited to work alongside them.

Its chief officer Steve Inett said: "Patients have been reporting they are having to wait six or seven weeks for routine appointments. And even when they try to get an urgent one they can be forced to queue outside surgeries before they are open.

"It is a real problem. Some GP surgeries are really struggling to recruit the staff they need, particularly the smaller surgeries."

Where are all the GPs going?

For a number of years the NHS was struggling to attract junior doctors to become GPs.

At one point, as many as one in 10 training places was going unfilled.

That has now been rectified - and the number of training places increased.

Last year, nearly 3,500 GP trainee posts were taken up in England, up by 800 since 2014.

This boost in numbers has yet to be fully felt as it takes at least three years to train a junior doctor to become a GP.

What is more, one in three junior doctors who accept places on GP training courses, drops out of the system, according to the Nuffield Trust.

Meanwhile, the numbers retiring early have been increasing.

Two-thirds of retirements by GPs come early - double the rate seen just five years ago.

The BMA said doctors were being asked to work longer and harder, without recognition or an increase in pay.

Dr Richard Vautrey, of the BMA, said workloads were now "unmanageable" for many.

It's not safe - GP

Dr Carmel Boyham Irvine has worked at the North Road West Medical Centre in Plymouth for 26 years.

She has seen demand increase as the population ages with patients needing help and care for ever more complex conditions.

She now deals with 50 to 60 patients a day - either on the phone or in person.